Engaging the Bible in Mission
Theology Scholarship: A Biblical Theology of Mission or a Missional Biblical
Theology? 1. Introduction

Introduction: In the previous post, I raised
doubts about whether we can, let alone should, attempt to speak of a ‘Biblical
Theology of Leadership.’ One of the
issues with such a project is whether ‘leadership’ is even the right word to
use when speaking of ministry. Another
issue is whether the Bible engages certain topics—like leadership, as well as
others—sufficiently for us to articulate a ‘Biblical’ theology for that topic. When we turn to the subject of
‘mission,’ the situation may be exactly the opposite. We may actually be understating the issue if we are merely developing a ‘Biblical
theology of mission.’ Mission may
actually be the unifying concept for Biblical theology itself. At least, this suggestion has come from two
noted scholars, one an Old Testament scholar and the other a New Testament
scholar. Two Proposals: In The Mission of God (20…

Issues Facing Missions Today 9: A 'Biblical Theology of Leadership'?
What is ‘a Biblical theology of leadership?’ The phrase is found everywhere, even as the
title of courses of study. It is
accepted uncritically as a meaningful concept and coherent idea, something that
carries the authority of Scripture, and something that we should pursue as a
matter of first importance in churches and ministries today. Some would even describe the missionary task
as the training of leaders, and the grist for grinding out such a product would,
we are told, be found in the Bible.
Serious problems—I will note only two here—arise for
such an undertaking, however. First,
more serious reflection is needed on what is meant by ‘a Biblical theology’ of
anything. The second point noted here
will be given a more careful look through comments made by John Howard Yoder
before the focus on ‘Christian leadership’ became so popular. One reason for focusing on Yoder’s work is
that he wrote well before…